Chapter 35

“Kyle, please talk to me,” Max begged her. She was quiet the entire ride home and silently cried.

“Just leave me alone, Max.” She walked upstairs to her room and locked the door. Kyle was afraid she couldn’t trust him again; she didn’t want him to touch her or see her.

As soon as she sat on her bed, Elliot jumped up next to her and started licking her face.

“You’re the only one I can trust,” she said while lying down next to Elliot, enjoying the alone time she was about to get.

Kyle started to drift asleep when there was a knock on the door. “~Myshka~, let me in.”

Kyle hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see Dimitri, but she let him in anyway.

“Max told me what happened.”

“He used me, Dimitri. I feel disgusted with myself. I thought I was more than an outlet.”

“He doesn’t know how to handle things that are outside of his control. He’ll come around—don’t give up.”

“I don’t want to be here anymore.” At the moment, that was what Kyle felt. She didn’t feel like she belonged, and she missed her old life.

“How about we give you space? Send you and Varina on a small weekend getaway so you can clear your head?”

“I want space. I don’t want a vacation; I want space, Dimitri.”

Dimitri didn’t want her to leave, but he knew they had to give her what she wanted.

“I don’t want to let you go, ~myshka~, but if that’s what you need, then I’m not going to force you to be here anymore.”

Kyle was surprised at Dimitri’s statement and didn’t know what to say. She thought this was a trick.

“Really?”

“Yes. I love you, and I’m not going to force you to be with me.”

Kyle had mixed emotions. She wanted to leave to be alone, but she had waited for Dimitri to be open about loving her.

“I should have said those words a long time ago. I love you, and as much as I want you to stay, you need to do what you need to do.”

Kyle threw herself at Dimitri and kissed him. “I’ve waited to hear you say that.”

Dimitri chuckled. “If you kiss me each time, I may say it more often.”

Dimitri kissed Kyle and backed her up to the bed, his mouth never leaving hers.

They fell onto the bed with him on top of her, and Dimitri’s hand slid up her shirt, but Kyle broke the kiss, causing Dimitri to stop touching her.

“I can’t, Dimitri; I’m too sore,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, ~myshka~. We can stop.” Dimitri sat up on the bed and looked at Kyle. “The offer stands. If you want to go somewhere, I’ll pay for it, and you can have as much time as you need, but I need to know where you are, especially with Viktor out there.”

“It’ll have to be longer than a weekend,” Kyle stated.

“All right. Where do you want to go?”

***

Kyle didn’t go far; she decided she would spend time at the beach house Dimitri took her to when she first arrived. The beach house was close enough to Dimitri and Max, but it also gave her space.

Dimitri promised her that Max wouldn’t know where she was until she was ready and assured her he hardly traveled to the beach house.

She chose a room upstairs instead of staying in Dimitri’s room downstairs.

Her goal was to relax and spend time going over the items in the box she took from her old apartment.

She was hoping to find information that would lead her to her father, and she was also hoping to find out who she actually was.

***

It had been a few days since Kyle left, and Max was going crazy. “Damn it, Dimitri, tell me where she is.”

“I can’t. I promised her I would tell you when she was ready for you to know. She needs time, Max.

“She hasn’t been alone in a while, and she has been doing everything that we wanted her to, and you fucked up, so give her time.”

“I know. That’s why I need to see her. I want her to know that I’m sorry.”

“Just give her time, Max. She’ll come around.”

Max was angry that he let things get that far. He was mad that Kyle left, and he was upset that Dimitri knew where she was.

***

Max needed answers, so he visited Sarah.

Sarah was still being held at the house, but she tried to keep her distance from the brothers; she was afraid that their hospitality would end soon, especially since she didn’t have a lot of information.

Max knocked on the door to the room Sarah was staying in.

“Come in,” Sarah yelled. She was sitting on the couch in her room watching TV; it was the only thing she could do to pass the time.

“Max, what can I help you with?” Sarah nervously asked him.

“Relax. I just want to talk.”

“Well then, have a seat.”

Max took a seat on the other side of the couch and made himself comfortable.

“I have a few questions for you, and you need to answer them honestly.”

“I will, and I haven’t lied to you since you caught me,” Sarah’s goal was to be as honest as she could be. She didn’t want Kyle hurt, and she didn’t want to put herself in any more danger.

“How long have you been working for your father?”

“Only the past few months. This was the first thing he has ever asked me to do, and it wasn’t asking; it was threatening me. I have a little brother that he held over my head.”

“So, Kyle has another sibling?”

“No, this is my mom’s son from the man she is married to now. He said if I didn’t do what he needed me to do, he would hurt him, and I’m afraid that he’s going to anyway because I got caught.”

“What were you supposed to accomplish here?”

Sarah took a deep breath.

“The goal was to get information, to know how your organization worked and operated. My father wanted to take it all.”

“He wanted me to get in with you or Dimitri, but I met Mike. I fell in love with Mike, and I would do anything to make this right and for him to see that I’m not bad and that I love him.”

Sarah couldn’t keep the tears at bay and started crying. She couldn’t imagine her life without Mike. She wanted her happily ever after, and that included Mike.

“Where does your mother live?” Max could sense that Sarah was on the verge of panicking.

“Don’t worry; no harm will come to your family. If your father is threatening you with your brother, then he must have men nearby her home. We could use that to our advantage.”

“Could you check on them if I tell you?”

Max nodded at Sarah, and she gave him the address to her mother’s house, hoping she was doing the right thing.

***

Kyle was enjoying her time alone on the beach. She felt relaxed, and Elliot loved having free range of the house, and she loved seeing Elliot enjoy the water.

The box she got from her old apartment has been a bust so far. She found some letters that were from Viktor to her mother, but they didn’t reveal any information.

Kyle found some old baby pictures of her with the guy she called Dad, and it made her wonder who he was and why her mother married him instead of staying with Viktor.

She had more questions than answers, and she was running out of ways to get those questions answered.